Just an aside not to everyone... While "The Last Hunter" has not updated in months (so sorry!) it *IS* still in progress. I simply haven't had much time to write, so I've been focusing my energy on concluding this story first. Once this one is finished, I can give TLH my full effort.

Now, Mosin mentioned some actor suggestions for the characters. I thought I'd post my reply here for anyone else curious about that.

Randi: Though she looks quite a bit different than what I've establish for Randi's features, I think Sasha Alexander could definitely work for the part. I'm sort of surprised I never thought of her before--I love NCIS!

Akela: Josh Duhammel isn't an actor I'm familiar with, but physically he looks rather close. Though, personally, I'd always thought that a somewhat younger Cliff Simon (Ba'al from Stargate) would be perfect for Akela's role. Those of you who've seen the show can probably see what I mean.

Fred: Jim Belushi is an...interesting suggestion, but I really can't picture him for Fred's role. For one, he doesn't look even remotely like the character. (Fred has some very obvious Mexican ancestry, and thus dark hair, eyes, and a tan complexion.) Unfortunately, I can't think of anyone who bears a sufficient resemblance that could also play the part.

(I have a bit of a hang up about casting people for a role when they don't look even remotely like the same ethnicity as the character. E.g. Jennifer Garner as the dark-haired, Greek Elektra. WTF, Marvel?)

All that said, Hellcat posed a rather interesting solution. His suggestion was that we simply, "cast Johnny Depp as everyone--even the women." If not amusing, that would at least cut down on paper work. ;)

Anyway, on with the story!

Chapter 21

'Why do things always become so complicated?'

Randi stared absently into the darkness as she leaned against the frame of the window, one arm pressed to the cold glass. With her free hand, she blindly traced over the pendant she wore, her fingers following the form of the onyx wolf inlaid on it. As she watched the snow dancing past the spotlights, she heard a quiet footfall behind her.

"Hello," Akela said slowly. His voice was a little hesitant, as he tested the waters.

Still looking out the window, Randi frowned. "Did you decide that you haven't caused me enough trouble, yet?"

"I did not come to cause trouble. I just wanted to talk." He gave a soft smile, though Randi couldn't see it. "I just...felt a little lonely."

"I'm sure there's a redlight district in town to satisfy that feeling."

He sighed, but kept his thoughts to himself. 'It is not that kind of lonely...' This was the truth. After a moment more of silence, he walked up beside her. "I didn't mean for that—any of that—to happen. I am sorry. If you want, I could talk to Acosta—"

"That's the last thing I want," she scoffed. "I think I understand now. You're not here to take my life, you're here to ruin it."

"That is not true." The Clansman struggled for further words, but nothing he could say seemed right. There was no explanation that would help but the truth, and that was the one thing he could not tell her. 'Well, you got what you wanted. You split them up,' he chided himself. 'You are a real bastard.'

"So, what do you want?" Randi prompted him again, interrupting his thoughts.

"I..." He fumbled for a moment to get his thoughts back on track. "Just a mission update. I found the location of Los Tiburónes del Toro's base."

"Have you told Fred?"

"Actually," he replied, handing her a folder. "I thought it might be better if you informed him. Everything you need is in here."

She accepted it warily, and skimmed through the contents quickly. When she glanced up, Akela was already halfway down the hall. "Where are you going?"

He waved his hand dismissively. "I just have a few things to take care of." Pausing a moment, he turned back towards her and offered a faint, somewhat regretful smile. "Do not worry, sibkin. It will all be over, soon."

* * * * *

Fred dashed ahead through the sleet, pushing his Hellhound's throttle to its limit. There was something unusually single-minded about his movement. He weaved through the snow drifts, trudging ahead determinedly; he rarely slowed, and never once stopped.

"Dingo, check your vector, please," Randi said, opening a channel to him. His nimble 50-tonner was quickly leaving her Bushwhacker behind. She had to wonder if it was,at least subconsciously, intentional.

"Copy," was the only answer, as he slowed just enough to match her top speed.

He didn't want to be here, and neither did she. It was not so much the mission that was a problem, but the company. It had been hard enough just to walk in and hand her partner the mission maps earlier. Running a mission together was even worse, almost like some kind of suffocation.

Though she tried to tell herself she forgave him, Randi was still angry about the way her partner had reacted. He, of course, was still angry for all the same reasons that he had been. She could see in his eyes—the way he didn't look at her—that he felt hurt, too. That just made her angry with herself. She knew there had to be a way to fix all of this, but she scarcely knew where or how to start.

Right now, though, the most important thing was the mission. Randi brought her attention back to the Bushwhacker's HUD, keeping a careful eye for new radar signatures. She brushed the back of her hand across her brow lightly, wiping away a thin sheen of sweat, and shifted her shoulders a little uncomfortably. The cockpit felt unusually close today, like the the edge of claustrophobia.

Before she could fidget any more, the Hellhound came to an abrupt stop up ahead of her. Her HUD displayed the nav point, designated Gamma, as being just barely more than one klick out from their position.

"Fox, this is Dingo. We've reached nav Beta."

The channel was rife with static from the storms, but after a moment, Akela's voice came through. "Copy, Dingo. The storms are blocking satcomm feed right now, but the last images I received showed minimal activity—just light, unarmored vehicles. Over."

"Copy that. Proceeding as planned."

"Orders?" Randi queried.

"Win," Fred replied simply. "You remember where the barracks is, I'm sure."

"Yes."

"Take it out. I'll deal with the mobile turrets. After that, we level the rest of the base. Commence radio silence and proceed. Dingo, out."

"Wilco. Black Wolf, out."

With that, Fred throttled up again and began circling around to the left. Randi broke off to the right, torso-twisting left to get a better view of the Tiburónes' base as she neared it, and went to passive sensors. Through the haze she could just barely see the structures that comprised the base. Most seemed to be either flimsy prefab buildings or mobile units.

Scanning over the structures quickly, she spotted what Akela had previously deduced to be the barracks. She aimed, carefully lowering her cross hairs over it, and brought her finger up to the trigger. Just one salvo of her LRMs leveled the entire building, sending up a cloud of dust and splinters several meters.

"Dingo, this is Black Wolf. Objective completed. Over."

"Copy. Proceed with next objective. Out."

Randi nudged the Bushwhacker's throttle forward, proceeding carefully past the remnants of the barracks. A series of well-placed shots from her large laser brought down the communications building head. That left only the main structure structure. The map images Akela had obtained showed it to be the largest building, but he was unable to determine exactly what it was. Though it did not appear to be a hangar or ammo dump, Randi decided to keep her distance from it, and back up carefully as she readied another LRM strike. She pulled the trigger, and watched the missiles rash into it, pulling down one corner of the building and not much more.

"Okay, not an ammo dump," she muttered aloud, as she took a step forward, this time firing her laser.

Instantly, the building exploded, throwing a shower of scrap into the air as a fireball bloomed out from its core. Startled, Randi backpedaled instinctively, and turned her 'Mech away from the inferno. She quickly realized, however, that the worst of it was over—now there was only smoke, and little flaming bits of wood drifting down from the sky—and walked off, feeling quite glad that she had not ventured any closer.

Behind the next building stood the inert form of a Centurion. Closer inspection revealed it to be the same 'Mech that she and Fred had fought just two days ago, still wearing the battle scars of that conflict. The lack of activity around it suggested that her attack on the barracks had eliminated its pilot.

"Dingo, I just found one of their 'Mechs—the Centurion. Orders?"

"Leave it alone," Fred replied. "I want to salvage anything we can, or at least strip it for parts. Over."

"Understood." She glanced around quickly. "Uh...Dingo? I do not see the Trebuchet anywhere near it. Over."

"Keep looking, then. I don't want any surprises. Over."

"Roger that. Out."

Randi continued picking her way through the Tiburónes' base complex slowly, being careful to give all the buildings a wide berth. She did not want to make any more assumptions about what did and did not contain volatile materials. As she picked her way past a pair of trucks cautiously, she spotted what looked to be a small building, mostly covered in snow, sitting at the edge of the complex. It was not listed on the map. She crept slightly closer, and fired a single shot of her AC/10 at it as a test.

A very loud, somewhat metallic crack confirmed that she had hit her target, but the structure seemed relatively undamaged. She frowned and took another step forward, this time readying her ER large laser. Just as she lowered her targeting reticule back over the structure, a flurry of snow and ice chunks flew up from the base of it, and the entire thing jerked backwards.

"Enemy detected," reported the computer, a few seconds late.

"Freebirth!" Randi spat, as she turned on her radar and tried to pin her crosshairs over it, again. "Dingo, I just found one of their tanks—the Goblin! It's live, running passive sensors!"

"Copy that. Keep after it. I'm moving to join you."

Biting her lip in concentration, Randi squeezed the trigger, hoping to hit the tank's broadside. By this time, however, it had throttled up to its full speed, and quickly sped past, unharmed. It, unlike the BattleMech she had seen, looked to be fully repaired. Despite having a lower top speed, the Goblin could easily out maneuver her in the complex, as its smaller chassis allowed it to squeeze between the buildings and rubble. That maneuverability and a large laser meant that it could not be ignored.

Turning quickly to track it, Randi fired off another round of her AC/10. That shot nicked the tank in the skirt, just above its drive sprocket, leaving a sizeable dent in the armor. It retaliated with its laser, slicing the beam across her Bushwhacker's leg. Before she could get in another hit, the tank raced between a pair of buildings, disappearing from view. It was still on radar—stopped just out of sigh. Suddenly, and for no apparent reason, it bolted out from its hiding place and into the open.

Randi turned, following it, and fired her AC/10 again, punching in part of the main hull. The Goblin fired its laser again, missing her torso by about half a meter as she stomped through the snow after it. Slowing a little, she pinned her crosshairs on the it, and waited for a missile lock. As soon as the crosshairs turned red, she squeezed the trigger, sending a flurry of LRMs chasing after the vehicle. The missiles swooped after it as it tried to evade, and crashed into its side, tearing up one of its wheels and part of the tread. The Goblin slid wildly across the ice, only stopping when it slammed into a snow drift.

The comm lit up unexpectedly as she watched the tank try to free itself. "Black Wolf, what's your status?" Fred asked.

"Just finishing up this pest," Randi replied as she fired another salvo at the Goblin, cracking open part of its hull.

"I could use some assistance over here. That Patton they have came online and tried to punch a hole in my back."

"Roger, I am on my way." She sliced into the turret armor once more with her large laser and then, satisfied that the tank was immobile, turned and darted off to help her partner.

There was a beep from her console, and an enemy signature suddenly appeared on her radar. She slowed for a moment, wondering if perhaps the conflict between Fred and the Patton had taken them further away than she thought. As she glanced down at her HUD to confirm the identity of the enemy unit, the frantic shriek of a missile lock warning quickly interrupted her thoughts. A blaze of LRMs lit up her viewscreen as they smashed the armor on her left arm and torso.

She throttled up, crashing the Bushwhacker through the remains of the barracks, and twisted back to get a bead on her attacker. It was the Trebuchet she had been looking for, as she suspected. A little hastily, she fired her autocannon. The shot went wide, missing the attacking 'Mech, but caused it to retreat a little.

Randi huffed a curse under her breath. She needed to close the distance, not scare it off. At-range, the Trebuchet had the advantage, but if she could lure it near, inside the minimum range of its LRMs, she could use the hitting power of her direct-fire weapons to shred up its armor. She turned quickly and stomped down on the throttle, trying to catch up to the 50-tonner.

"Dingo, I am engaging a Trebuchet," Randi said, opening a channel to Fred. "If you can break off from the Patton and push this 'Mech back towards me, I can finish it off."

"Roger, Black Wolf. I'll be with you shortly."

Finally achieving a missile lock on the skittish Trebuchet, Randi unloaded both of her LRM-5s into its torso. She could spot a burst of orange light and red-hot metal shards, followed by a plume of thick, black smoke where the missiles had impacted the 'Mech's armor. Unfortunately for her, the damage was largely centered on the BattleMech's empty left torso, leaving it free to pummel her with another salvo of its own missile.

She braced herself as the LRMs assailed her torso armor, peppering the armor with charred pockmarks wherever they hit. One thing she had come to appreciate about the Bushwhacker was its slim profile, which in itself afforded some additional protection. That spared her center torso from the worst of the damage.

Still pressing her attack, she cut around to her adversary's side, pounding into its armor a second time with her missiles. The Trebuchet slowed to turn and face her, giving her a little edge as she continued closing the distance between them. She only hoped that the pilot would not catch onto her strategy before Fred arrived.

"Enemy detected," the computer reported suddenly, with corresponding radar signature.

"Randi, I just picked up a cold-start. It's that Centurion," Fred said tersely, too perturbed with that event to use her call-sign. "There's an awful lot of mercs on this field, considering you smoked their barracks... You did take it out, right?"

"Yes, of course! I do not under—" She cut herself off mid-sentence. "The Goblin! Some of the Sharks' personnel must have been sleeping in its infantry compartment instead of the barracks." 'That is why it stopped earlier,' she thought, 'to let the MechWarriors leave.'

"Augh, this was supposed to be easy! Why is it never easy?" he grumbled. "I'm going to try and get past this guy so I can join you. We can concentrate on the Trebuchet, and then finish off the Centurion. Out."

"Roger. Out."

Randi bit her lip as both the Centurion and her partner's Hellhound moved in on her position. She watched her armor levels drop as the former slugged her 'Mech in the arm with its AC/10, but kept her focus on her own quarry. Fortunately, Fred was passing the Tiburónes' 'Mech easily, and was soon within range to use his large laser—the light gauss was a less practical choice in this weather. A spray of yellow could be seen through the flurries and the Hellhound's laser clipped the Trebuchet on its shoulder. It did relatively minor damage, but seemed to startle the pilot all the same. It darted forward, and Randi quickly moved to intercept it.

As she fired her own laser, stabbing the BattleMech in its gut, another slew of LRMs hammered into her arm and side, this time from the Centurion. Again, she ignored it, though the smoke that was puring off her armor tempted her to do otherwise. The Trebuchet was starting to crumple, however. With a 'Mech on each side, it was quickly running out of places to go, and as it slowed to turn and chew on the Hellhound, Randi spotted her opportunity. She slammed down on the throttle, bringing her 'Mech inside the minimum range of the Trebuchet's LRMs.

The pilot, preoccupied with attacking Fred, only noticed too late that at this distance, it could do little more than tickle the Bushwhacker's armor. She opened fire with her autocannon and large laser simultaneously, punching a hole clean through the 'Mech's battered armor, and into the internals. It scraped at her with its medium lasers, but that did little to deter her.

Meanwhile, Fred broke off to deal with the Centurion as planned. As the snow cleared from the air for just a moment, he gave the opposing 'Mech an experimental punch with his light gauss and managed to score a hit to its center torso. After that, however, he returned to using his laser.

Suddenly, both of the Tiburónes unloaded all of their missiles onto the Hellhound. Fred staggered as the LRMs bashed his 'Mech from both sides, armor shrapnel spraying from its hull like confetti. Randi glared and unloaded her direct-fire weapons into the Trebuchet angrily, pounding it until it crashed into the snow, then stabbed the Centurion with a salvo of LRMs. It quickly began to retreat once its companion fell, and switched its attention to Randi. Fred, now recovered, darted past it closely and pummeled its aft armor with his C-STRKs.

He opened the general frequency and began shouting to the MechWarrior in Spanish angrily. Randi supposed he was ordering the pilot's surrender, considering the state of its armor, but would not have been surprised if there were some less civil words, as well.

Fred was met with silence, at first, prompting him to punch the Centurion with his missiles again, and repeat his order. "¡Entrega! No puede ganar." Then, he added, "No le matará. Quisiéramos solamente que usted se fuera."

"...Entregamos," the MechWarrior replied finally, and powered down.

Randi slowed, keeping her crosshairs on the Centurion cautiously. "Well...?"

Fred heaved a sigh of relief. "They've surrendered."